Chance at Case Western?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Case Western Reserve University
1

<p>First and foremost, Case Western was brought to my attention after my sister received her acceptance letter 3 days ago. The news was great for us. She ED'd Case because it was her top choice, but was deferred a while back. Oh, and she was accepted into Case's nursing school. Our family will be going to the invitational early April. How strong are my chances in becoming a potential Case Western student? </p>

<p>My sister got in to Case with statistics that are somewhat like this: Asian female, PA resident, Attends a public school, 1st gen. college student, 24 ACT, many ECs, recommendations, some leadership positions, many volunteer hospital hours, ~3.7 GPA, etc.</p>

<p>Here are my statistics:</p>

<p>Background Information
-Asian male (specifically, Korean)
-PA resident
-Attends a public school
-First generation college student </p>

<p>GPA and SAT/ACT scores
ACT: Have taken (but did not like the score); if you need test scores to evaluate my chances, then sorry
HS cumulative GPA: 3.5 (Freshman GPA was low because of depression, finding out who I was at the time--will emphasize on this in college essay; upwards trend since then and have maintained; taken leadership in school)
-Sophomore: 4.0, 4.0, 4.0, 3.9; Honors English
-Junior (this year): 3.81, 3.86; AP Euro, AP English, Honors Spanish, Honors Chemistry
3rd MP at this time, I'm not doing so well in AP English.<br>
-Senior: To be determined the next year... </p>

<p>School Activities
1. Tennis (on high school team since 9th grade; captain of JV squad in 10h). Did tryout this year, but I recently told the coach that I have other things that I need to focus on at this time.
2. Key Club (one of the officers)
3. Student Council
4. Tech Crew
5. Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
6. Played ice hockey on HS team (2 years)</p>

<p>Volunteer Work
1. Hospital Teen Volunteer (my passion lies here; I currently have ~225 hours and 450 hours is to be eligible for the scholarship that I believe is around $2,000)
<em>I will be sure to emphasize on the lessons that I have learned from volunteering at my hospital. The people that I have met; the things that I have seen; the lessons that I have learned all contributes to molding me from my "past life" (depressed, inactive, etc.) to an individual who takes active role and determined. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't like this in grade school and grades before coming to 9th grade. Everything was just hitting me in 9th grade due to personal issues</em></p>

<p>Special Nominations/Programs or Awards
1. Won two consecutive "Most Improved Awards" on my HS ice hockey team
2. Tennis award in sophomore year for “Most outstanding doubles player”
<em>I can discuss these in college essay to show that it is never too late to start anything and show that I am a hard working, dedicated individual; potential</em></p>

<p>Additional Notes
-Freshmen Year was not as strong as it could have been; faced depression and many other issues
-Intrapersonal individual for the most part
-Interested in Biology and/or Business field (Possibly do Biology then MBA); uncertain about Chemistry now (for pharmacy)
-Diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder)--will emphasize on this and discuss how I overcame this, including many other issues
-May take duel enrollment classes next year as senior (which are after school and meet once a week; options are mandarin chinese or philosophy for me-- these gives college credits in state of PA and HS credit)--shows that I mean "business" when it comes to dedication
-Somewhat interested in what my uncle does, in which he advertises medication for Johnson and Johnson, Inc.; or Biochemistry (scientist) in the United States Marine Corps or miitary
-Hard-working parents and I would consider my family to be lower middle-class citizens in terms of income. Both of my parents have only achieved a high school diploma in South Korea and when coming to the U.S., they did not have many options. My mother was forced to work with parents in laundry business, while other sisters and brother went off to college (Two UPenn grads, a Drexel grad, and a Temple grad--simultaneously). A year or so after I was born, my parents bought off a store from the original owner of a store in North Philadelphia; people all around know of my parents and appreciate them because they are the only convenience store around and is a heart-warming place to be because my mother and father influenced their lives (Will discuss these in college essay)</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Congrats to your sister! You look like a good candidate for Case Western. Your grades are good, and you have good extracurriculars. Study so you can do well on the ACT, SAT, and SAT2s. Have you thought about what you’re going to write your Common App essay about? Remember, one of the topics is “Write about a topic of your choosing” or something (basically anything else). Obviously, you have a looong time to think about it, but it will be to your benefit to get started on your essays over the summer (I didn’t even start my essays till October, and it made for a first term that was WAY too stressful).</p>

3

<p>First of all I think it’s really cool that you want to go to Case and you’re from PA, I am from PA and I am going to Case! Secondly I would like to give you some advice:</p>

<p>You have great stats! I mean absolutely amazing! Which is why I believe that you should NOT and I repeat NOT mention in your essay at all anything about your depression in freshman year or about how your GPA was at that time. If you would perhaps like to clear things up with admissions you should go for an interview and discuss it there. The one thing that you have to remember at all times is that these people don’t know you. If you write about your period of depression they can not see the smiling happy person that you are now, they see the person you have described on paper and that is a sad teen. Of course that is not to say that Case does not accept people dealing with/have dealt with issues, they do and they are very accepting of people from all walks of life. I would just like to remind you that your fist impression is everything and without the human factor behind your Common App your first impression to the Admissions counsel might come off a little skewed.</p>

<p>Aside from that I’m rooting for you kid! :)</p>

4

<p>oliver2,
I appreciate your comments. I’ll be sure not to mention the depression issues, etc.-- it runs in the family; however, I will mention ADD problems and have struggled with it since 3rd grade.</p>

<p>Is there anything else that I can emphasize on other then working hard that has not been mentioned?</p>

5

<p>Any chances?</p>